Training of a mana goddess
by Kaiser Shadow
Summary: The story of a young girl with a very important destiny, and her traveling group of warrior friends.Contains violence, blood, some slight swearing, and some pathetic attempts at drama
1. A brief history lesson

In a time off a uneasy peace, brought on by the sudden end of a war that had lasted a thousand years.

A war that spread through out the four kingdoms, the land to the south ruled by the beast king Fredrick, to the west was the Winged queen Arial, to the north the humans, ruled by Emperor , and finally to the east, was the homeland of the jumi, that was ruled by king Jadeite.

Through out the war, the power of mana was waning in and out of existence, due to the development of mechanical devices which harnessed the mana within mana seeds along with the very elemental spirits themselves, and the occasional elemental beast. As a result, the magical creatures and spirits became rare and cowardly, but there were a few who stood up against their humanoid oppressors, and they became to be known as the god beasts. As the god-beasts tried to protect their homes, they were sealed within the mighty mana stones, along with the spirits from which their power of their blessings sprung forth from.

But our story is not about this war, or even the rulers, nor is it about the god-beast and their rebellion, our story is one of a record of the adventures of a young girl, from birth to her dying day, as she travels to find out her destiny and the secrets behind the world around her, known only as Fa'diel.

Author notes: This is my first try at drama, so if you are going to review please keep these things in mind

1) It's my first attempt at serious stuff, so there probably will be some slip ups.

2) This is based off the world in the third game(Legend of mana, because I don't count Final Fantasy Adventure, because it sucked), but follows the story line of the first game with a few alterations to it.

3) As for the Jumi's within this story, if there are enough interest in how I do it, I will fully explain why it is possible to have a jumi with a stone core(which will come along later in the story).

4) Rabites trump everything, you have a problem with it, try beating a black rabite at the highest level, with max stats, a full inventory of healing and attacking items, and the best equipment and then you'll see why I say so...

5) I know that there are a few run-on sentences and I may not spell everything correctly or get the facts straight, just remember that I will take artistic license on this.

I do not own anything other than my computer, an account on a PS2, and a few other game systems.

Kaiser Shadow, the Jumi of Obsidian


	2. the story begins

"Over here Master Roivas" a short white figure shouted as it led it's master over to a small bundle laid against an ancient looking tree.

"What have we here lil' buddy?" the taller figure, with sharp green eyes and a pair of pointed ears, wondered as he knelt down to the small package.

"It's a baby that Oui found" the small bear-like figure said peeling the wool blanket from the basket to reveal a small angelic looking figure, with a small crown of soft blonde hair.

"Such a lovely child, but it raises a very deep question... why is it here?" the tall man asked as he picked the child up and took her back to the orphanage.

"Yo, boss, what's with the blanket, found another helpless lil brat?" A small red haired youth, no older than eight years of age, chuckled pointing at the small bundled up girl.

"Why hello to you too, Jingle..." the owner chuckled to his young nephew.

"Look uncle Roy, I told you, my name's Jinn..." the youth grumbled.

"ahh... if your so good with names, why don't you come up with one for this little one" Roy chuckled as his servant, Oui, a small Moogle, which is a small creature with the appearance of a small white bear cub with the wings of a bat and a strange little red bobble object protruding from the crest of it's head, which Master Roivas saved from a vicious meat-eating Rabite... well to be fair their all omnivores... was given the little girl to put into a cradle.

"Well, she is kinda cute..." he chuckled looking down at it, a small braid with a bead at the end draping over her nose.

"gah!" she cooed as she batted at the small bead.

"heh... how about naming her Maria" Jinn chuckled as he placed a finger near her hand as she grabbed it "You agree with me, don't you little one"

Within sixteen years, the young girl found by the ancient tree has grown into quite the lovely little lady. She had been taught the ways of the woods by her uncle, Oui, the way of the humans by her cousin, Jinn, and the way of the elements from her father, Roy Roivas. Today would be the day that would change her life forever...

"Papa, why are you hiding me in the cellar?" she asked innocently as her father closed the door and locked it.

"I am sorry, Maria... but this is the only way..." he sighed before he was cut off by a sword to the chest.

"Where is the child Elf..." the solider demanded turning Roy's body over revealing a look of smugness "What's so funny, pointy ears..." he grimaced placing the blade to the elf's throat.

"You'll never have the goddess of resurrection, the empire shall never get control over the worlds mana..." the elf chuckled before having his head chopped off.

"Not so funny now, is it punk..." the solider chuckled holding the head by the hair, having grown long in the years that he lived in the forest away from the general public.

"Run Maria, RUN!" the head shouted before laying limp in the soldier's grasp, hearing the order from her late father, she ran off, through the ancient passage ways that Oui told her of, as she ran off to the holy city of Wendal, leaving behind all of the pleasant times that she had held so fond in her heart.

"heh... so you think you can hide her from us in the ancient trails... Pathetic, we have a man working down there already, and he's been instructed to kill anyone who passes by" the solider chuckled tearing the door open "Yes, the crimson Shadow will take care of the task quite well..."

"Are you talking to the dead elf again?"another solider asked standing behind him

"no, this is what you call foreshadowing monologue... it's suppose to give insight into a problem someone has to face in the near future"

"Oh, I thought you were possessed by Mr. Hand again..."

"Oh don't start that preposterous rumor that the real emperor is a sock puppet..." the obviously elder soldier muttered covering his face.

"I wonder how far this tunnel goes..." Maria wondered heading down a dark cavern "I bet it goes to the center of the wooOOOOOOO" She shrieked before stumbling on a small stone figure "Ow..." she grumbled, picking herself up before looking to see what she stumble on was "What a strange shape, if only there was some light to show the way..." She wondered picking it up, before it started to shake.

"It is my duty to serve a maiden of such innocence..." it said as it started giving off a bright green light "All I ask in return is a favor..."

"You can talk?"

"Yeah... magic gems tend to be able to do that..."

"Really... so what's this favor your asking for?"

"That you find my body..."

"What?" She gasped clutching the stone, her palm wrapping around the stone's orb-shaped form.

"That's what I said, I'm actually a jumi, well, a jumi stone..." the stone murmured as the light started to focus into a solid stream pointing to a human shaped figure chained to the wall, it appeared as if it was solid stone "There is my physical form,I am a child of the Jumi throne, I have been imprisoned here by the empire after the assault on the Jumi throne, since my stone was flawed I was of no use to them so they separated my body and my mind to weaken me, before they crushed my body, but they had not foreseen the ancient secret of the Jumi, when the guardian and knight are separated for too long, they turn to stone..." the stone murmured before Maria started tapping the stone body "There's a hole in the middle of the chest" it spoke before she placed it in gingerly as a burst of light obscured any form of vision.

"The light... it's so warm..." Maria gasped before she felt a warm hand upon her shoulder as the light started to dim and vanish, returning to the small gem placed into the body.

"Thank you... I am indebted to your kindness..." the figure whispered bowing it's head in gratitude "If you wish, I can guide you out of these caves to a safe place..."

"First I have to know your name" She said lifting his chin to look into his dull green eyes "It's only proper..." She whispered staring into his eyes.

"It is Edgar, of the Jade class, at your service" he chuckled before tearing the chains off, straightening his simple red tunic "Ahh... my body feels so stiff after three hundred years..." he muttered stretching out his body.

"hee hee..." she giggled before he looked down only to find his heart slipping out "Here, let me help you..." she chuckled before pushing the small dark orb back into his chest, further in till it was concealed by his flesh.

"I should have told you this, we jumi only need to touch our core to have power coursing though our bodies..." Edgar chuckled "It's both a blessing and a curse..." he sighed before turning his tunic around so the large gaping hole was in the back "When we reach the next town I have to get a new suit of armor..." he muttered inwardly as he held his hand over the hole in his chest as a warm glow filtered out.

"A living lamp?" she chuckled "Now I've seen everything..."

"Really now... have you ever seen a living onion or a tea kettle that moves?" Edgar chuckled as he escorted her along the path.

"No, I've only heard of these things in fairy tales" she giggled holding onto his arm as to not get lost "Such things exist?"

"Oh, if only the great jeweled city was still around, the beauty of the place would cause someone's eyes to bleed out of their sockets" Edgar chuckled before he stopped and shook his head.

"What is it?" she asked looking at him with a look of concern "Something wrong?"

"No, it's just that you remind me of someone I knew of..." he muttered as he grabbed her hand and started to run, dragging her along "Come on, we can't waste our whole lives in this dank little hole in the ground can we?" he jested as they reached a clearing where light filtered in, only to have it flooded with a dark red light, as a boulder covered the exit "Damn..."

"What is it? What's going on?" She asked, a very concerned look on her face "why is everything the colour of blood?"

"I was hoping it wouldn't still be here... he has come to finish the job" Edgar sighed before dragging Maria over to a small enclosed spot surrounded with spikes and a low roof "Stay here, this is unfinished business..." Edgar ordered before cracking his knuckles "Crimson Shadow, I know your out there!" he shouted as the red light focused into a single ray as a small jester like figure appeared.

"I thought you'd never awaken brave prince..." the jester, the Crimson Shadow said bowing, a hired assassin employed by the empire to get rid of royal families that would become a problem later on "Your the last head on my list, and you know me, I'm very thorough..." he chuckled.

"You bastard... you will never get away with the travesties that you have committed..." Edgar growled clenching his fists "First killing off my parents when I was tied down to the throne, then killing my guardian, no my fiancé in front of me..." he continued moving forward, his fists white from sheer pressure exerted by rage.

"oh ho ho... yes, the lovely miss Sara of the Ruby clan..." the jester chuckled before pulling out a pair of ritual daggers used by Jumi hunters for separating the soul from a Jumi's body and shatter it "To let you know, I kept a vial of her blood and a few shards of her core, if you'd like I will mix them with your own, so you'll be with her in the after life..." he snickered using his frog-like tongue to grab a vial with a strange pink substance with a few specks of stone "How about it, Romeo"

"Bastard!" Edgar shouted before throwing a punch at the wicked clown, only to have a knife penetrate his arm.

"These may have lost their blessing from lord Gnome over the ages, but I've just hit a major nerve... even now the damage is causing blood from you brain to flood down to it, trying to repair it and survive... now you'll be even less rational than before" he chuckled dragging the knife out licking off a line of blood from the edge "Delicious... it has been quite a while since a jumi's blood has been shed, but that will change..." he chuckled as Edgar grasped his arm, struggling to keep his footing.

"Say..." Edgar chuckled straightening out, letting his arm hang limp at his side, a twisted gnarled form of it's original shape.

"What is it now..." the jester sighed "You can only delay the inevitable..."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" He chuckled before ramming his left fist into the clown's mouth pulling out the tongue "What's the matter... Jumi got your tongue?" Edgar snickered as he wrapped it around Crimson's throat "The benefit of you having such a big mouth is that you have a big tongue..." he said before pulling it close around the jester's throat, crushing his windpipe.

"Gugg... Haaggg..." he gurgled trying to pull the tongue away.

"Then again, that's the problem with you Ponokians... all talk..." Edgar said dropping the limp clown's body and grasping his arm and slowly moved towards Maria "Sorry if you had to watch that..." he muttered before falling over, unconscious.

"Oh no... I have to get him to a medic!" She gasped, dragging his limp body out of the cavern, able to because during the battle, one of the knives was flung off and ricocheted against a few stones, causing vibrations strong enough to move the boulder covering the exit "Man... it is true... he is made of stone..." she huffed, dragging the heavy body of Edgar towards the exit.

"Hey, what is the holy road doing open..." a altar boy wondered as a large hole in the center of the waterfall was expose, revealing the path the mana goddess first traveled from the Mana tree to the holy city of Wendel, which at the time was just, Wendel. "That's odd... Oh my goddess!" he shouted as he saw a figure lurch out of it "Someone needs my help!"

"Lay off the limestone..." Maria grunted dragging Edgar's limp and rock-like body out of the cave, only to fall out and land in the pool of water below.

"Oh no... are you alright, miss, sir?" the altar boy asked standing near them on the river bank.

"I'm fine, but my friend here needs medical attention" Maria stated before shaking the water out of her ears as Edgar was floating face down.

"I think he's dead..." the altar boy said before Edgar's head popped up "Okay, so he isn't..."

"It'll take more than a stinkin' assassin to put me out of commission..." he gurgled stumbling to the beach before collapsing.

"What was the point of that..." altar boy sighed as Maria wrung her dress out trying to dry it "Oh, your all soaking wet... we better get you to the temple" he said as he put Edgar's uninjured arm over his shoulder and dragged him off, with our hero Maria, following after him.

"I am sorry ma'am, but I cannot help him..." the high altar boy mumbled bowing his head "We of the order of Manus, are not permitted to touch the children of the mines..."

"Why not high altar boy, Alexander?" the altar boy from before asked.

"Because they have had a record of not seeing eye to eye with the church..." Alexander sighed "You haven't been around long enough to know this, but a few years before your birth, the three main races on this globe were at war with one another, the beast-people from the south, the jumi to the east, the wind-callers to the west, and us, the humans from the north... it was a war in which many lives were taken needlessly, and now the nations are still at unrest..." Alexander sighed "I am sorry, but it would cause more troubles that I won't be able to deal with..."

"uh... Is there a jeweler in town..." Edgar groaned holding his twisted arm "I remember my old teacher say that in times of need, those who's job it is to repair jewelry can repair Jumis..."

"You lay down sir... conserve your strength..." The younger altar boy ordered pushing Edgar's body down.

"No... he is right, there is a jumi refugee who makes a living off of repairing the jewelry of the towns folk... go, she can help you..." Alexander said sagely before pointing through the window that overlooked the town, to a small hut on the corner of town

"Yes sir..." the young altar boy said.

"Say... what is your name?" Maria asked as she was carrying the front of the stretcher the temple's staff provided them with.

"It's Walter, but everyone calls me Wally for short" the young altar boy said, as they stopped in front of a quant little hut with a sign that read 'Ye Olde Gem Shoppe'.

"I believe this is the place" Maria said as they slowly placed the stretcher on the ground and knocked on the door "Hello? Is anyone home?"

"Just a second, just a second" A voice called half-heartedly, as the door swung open to reveal an olive-skinned woman of twenty four years, with long amber hair, and a small pot belly and fledging love handles "Ah... the altar boy told me to expect you three..." she said before kneeling down over Edgar "Yeah... I think I can fix him, it'll take a day, but come back again tomorrow around this time, and he'll be as good as new" She said observing the arm.

"I'm not one of your stinkin' golems josephine..." Edgar mumbled.

"Golems? What is he talking about?" Maria asked, having never heard of such a thing

"It's a mechanical device that uses both the powers of gnome and clock-work to emulate the functions of a human... essentially a man-made man" Wally said drawing out a few sketches in the dirt to illustrate his point.

"And she has such devices?"

"But of course, if you wish you to see, come on in" the lady said, picking Edgar up with relative ease.

"Wow... such interesting devices" Maria gasped poking a mechanical butler looking device.

"WOULD MADAM CARE FOR ANOTHER TEA?" it buzzed holding out a tea cup on a small plate.

"Oh, no thanks" Maria said sitting down on the couch as the golem brought over a couple biscuits.

"WOULD MADAME CARE FOR SOME BISCUITS?" it buzzed.

"uh... no..."

"Does it always do that?" Walter asked pointing over to the golem.

"Yeah... how do you think I got this?" She chuckled patting her round middle, as a single shimmer came from her underneath her large sweater.

"What was that?" Walter asked pointing to the small hole near where her where her heart would be if she had one.

"Oh... you know that I'm a jumi from the ol' doof at the temple, that's my core, I'm a guardian of the sapphire class" she chuckled pulling her shirt down "Please hand me the mallet" she ordered holding her hand out.

"Alright, but I don't see how it will help..." he muttered handing her a mallet as she tore off Edgar's right arm and attached a mechanical one "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" he shrieked as Maria rushed over to see what the problem was.

"Jumis can't regenerate bones or skin as easily as humans, it takes time and clay for us to recover, in time this arm made from the same technology as my friend Jim over there" She chuckled pointing to the golem "so don't worry, in time his body will absorb the metal in the arm and make it just as his own"

"But doesn't that seem a tad... painful?" Maria asked pointing to Edgar's face which was scrunched up in pain.

"You have no idea..." Edgar grumbled holding his new arm as Josephine placed a silver coin and a piece of quartz into a slot near the biceps "Ah... so that's how you have all of these golems running around... your using cheap magic to power them..." he chuckled as Maria poked the metal arm.

"so... he's all metally now?" she asked as Josephine chuckled.

"Yeah... now that chunk of quartz should last for until your arm recovers, but you should change the coin every few days to make sure it has enough mana to move" she said rubbing the oil from her hands.

"Heh... you obsession with mechanics finally payed off Josie..." Edgar chuckled standing up "Well, it's been nice, but we probably should hit the road, I promised to escort miss Maria here to a safe town, and you know me... I'm not one to go back on a promise" he chuckled clenching his robotic arm.

"Heh... have fun, prince of thieves" Josephine chuckled as they left.

"So... Walter was it?" Edgar asked as they headed back to the temple, noticing the young altar boys wings.

"Yes, sir?"

"Heh, I abhor being called sir, just call me Edgar" he chuckled grasping the young altar boys hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Ow... that hurts, please stop..." Walter groaned, holding his throbbing arm.

"Man... It's going to take a while to get used to you humans... so frail"

"Says the man who's arm was completely twisted around, showing off his gnarled bones and muscles..." Maria chuckled.

"Hey, if he can't stand a simple handshake he has a lot to accustom to..." he chuckled patting Wally on the back "No hard feelings, right chum?"

"uhh..." he muttered backing away "n-n-none sir..."


	3. A journey starts with but one step

"So... Pops, I'm entrusting Maria to ya..." Edgar ordered standing in front of the high priest Alexander.

"But why Edgar?" Maria asked standing behind him "Why are you leaving me here?"

"Because where I'm going isn't safe, and I promised to keep you safe" he said, putting his hands on her shoulders "I can't allow you to be placed in danger's way..."

"Yeah... that's how I'll tell her..." Edgar thought as he paced in the room that the church provided for him, across from Maria's room, by his request of course "oh... if only I had the guts to tell her now..." he mumbled "I'm made of stone... why do I have these weak emotions..." he sighed flexing his mechanic arm "Even my arm's made of metal, yet I am still a weakling..."

"Mister Edgar?" a soft voice called as the door opened "I heard you pacing and talking to yourself..."

"Oh... hey Wally, come on in..." Ed said motioning for him to come in "Have a seat, I needed someone to talk to..."

"About what sir?"

"first don't call me sir... we're the same age... and second, I need you to tell the high-priest and Maria tomorrow morning that I'm heading towards the empire to take revenge for my people, tell her not to follow" he commanded, before picking up a small wooden bow and a quiver of arrows, then handed it over to Walter "give her this and tell her to remember me..." he sighed before leaping out the window.

"Woah... this is a tad confusing... but I'll do it sir" Walter muttered before getting cut off.

"Stop calling me sir!"

"damn... those jumis have quite good ears"

"Yes we do!"

"And that's it, after that all I could see was the silhouette oh a lone tree in the center of the moon..." Walter explained, having just explained his talk with Edgar the night before "He told me to give you this, Miss Maria" he said handing over a simple looking bow whittled from a hard wood.

"But why didn't he tell me he was going to leave?" Maria asked before looking at the bow, with interest 'I wonder when he made that...' she thought.

"He said that it would have been difficult on him, because you would most definitely decide to follow him" Walter sighed "and because he couldn't bear to see you sadden by the fact that he's going off to a most certain death"

"What!" She shrieked only to have the high priest interrupt her.

"I am sure that he knows all of the risks of his actions and has decided to take revenge for his fallen race..." Alexander said sagely "All we can do is wish him luck and hope that the great Mana goddess will watch over him..." he said solemnly bowing his head and placing his hands in a prayer.

"uh... High priest..." Walter said hesitantly.

"Not now Walter, it is prayer time..."

"but... she's..."

"Damn it alter boy, I said it is prayer time!" Alexander shouted slamming his fist onto the altar he always stood in front of.

"But miss Maria has run away!" Walter pleaded, winning the shocked face of the high priest.

"Damn... Walter, follow her and keep her safe" the high priest ordered "You will need protection out there..."

"But sir, you know I have no interest in sexual desires..." Walter interjected

"Not that kind of protection..." Alexander grumbled before handing him a large spear "This kind of protection, the monsters have begun their great migration that happens every few hundred years"

"Oh yeah... didn't the great Mana knight start his journey with the great migration?" Walter said, holding the spear awkwardly.

"Yes, now go... guard that girl with your life..."

"Why? it's not like she's a important political figure or a traveling high priestess" Walter said looking at him skeptically.

"Just go already, or it's double mop duty till the day you die!" Alexander shouted, as he pointed out the door.

"fine... fine... I'm going, but remember, you won't have poor little Wally to push around..." he muttered.

"Little walter... he dwarfs me..." the priest sighed jumping off of his stilts to reveal a man standing at 3'4 "silly young altar boy..."

-The night before-

"Smithy... I require your services" Edgar demanded putting a bag full of coins on the table.

"I have a name you know..." the smith sighed, walking into the light, a short almost dwarf-like figure with a large green helmet with two little horns sticking of on either side, holding a large mallet, which made him look even shorter.

"Sorry, I'm in a tad of a hurry, Please, tell me your name" Edgar sighed bowing his head.

"It's Watts, and stop looking down on me!" He demanded.

"Sorry, it's just that your kind short..." Edgar apologized kneeling down, still taller than the black-smith.

"Oh, and I bet your going to make a comment about my short temper, aren't you..." he muttered, gritting his teeth.

"Perish the thought Watts, all I want is my blade re-forged, and in a hurry" he said holding out a a simple black sword, all covered with rust and moss over from decades of inactivity.

"It'll take me an hour... Till then, you should probably just wait in the business room" he instructed pointing towards what looked like a dentist's waiting room.

"oh... heh, that might just be a good idea..." Edgar chuckled walking off, leaving the blade in the hands of the tiny man.

"It's done, and a very nice job if I say so myself" Watts chuckled holding aloft a light-steeled blade, a simple straight-edged blade, with a simple cross pattern for

"Thanks, here, you can have the whole sack" Edgar said handing over the large sack of coins, and held his hand out for the blade.

"What's the rush anyways, haven't seen craftsmanship like this since the last time the Jumis were in town..." he chuckled, inspecting the blade closely.

"Well... about that..." Edgar mumbled rubbing the back of his head.

"Your a thief aren't you" Watts chuckled handing the blade over "Far be it from me to judge how my work is used, I just supply the stuff..."

"Heh, thanks, you don't know how much I owe you for this..." Edgar sighed before walking off.

"Troops, MOVE OUT!" a red armored knight ordered in front of several different brigades, each led by a knight wearing a different colour, Leo the leader of the lion brigade was famous for their bright gold armor. The leader of the Serpent brigade, Pisces, was known for his strong fluent motions in battle. In a black metal hauberk adorned with large artificial wings was the mighty leader of the Bat brigade, Scorpio. The leader of the hawk brigade was known as Virgo the silver marksman, and he proves it through training the troops in the art of the long bow. The leader of the white troops was once a simple beserker, living with a pack of wolves, when he was found by the emperor's right hand man, who saw that they were a perfect match, thus the reason he was named Gemini, and why his brigade is called the 'wolf pack'. In charge of the mole brigade was a man who startled even the most traveled adventurer, His name was Sagittarius, but everyone always called him 'The mole'. The leader who was ordering the others around was the one known as Aries the fierce, the leader of the dragon brigade, and killed thousands of men, women, and children in the name of the empire. Finally, the leader of the manticore troops is one of the more calm and peaceful of the leaders, Libra of the forest.

"Oh great..." Shadow muttered, hidden by a large pine tree as he was watching the troops "did I ever pick a good time to travel by light..." he groaned, smacking his head against the tree, unknowingly, causing several pine-cones to fall, gaining the tree Libra's attention, only to be rewarded a knowing smile, as his troops traveled in the opposite direction.

"Alright... Ed... just stay quiet and back away..." he warned himself mentally as he snuck into a hallow tree, as he waited for the troops to leave "Now if only I knew the location of the empire's headquarters..." he sighed as the last of the troops left except for one lone solider, in a soft green robe, it was Libra leader of the Manticore troop "damn... he must have heard me..."

"Come out jumi, I will not harm you" Libra said tossing his staff down to the ground "And all of the others have left... so there is nothing to fear"

"How did you know I was there?" Shadow asked, peeking his head around the tree, just to check to make sure they were alone "I mean, I'm not that loud..."

"It was the pine-cones that gave you away" he snickered "now come out of hiding"

"Fine... but I'm going to keep my sword with me... I don't trust you dogs of the empire..." Edgar mumbled, a hand on the handle of his blade.

"I just wish to speak, I know your seeking revenge for your people, and I can understand that... but keep in mind it was only Leo's troops who did it" Libra explained "I was against the idea, genocide should not be a part of war..." he mused, kneeling on his knees "I beg for you to stop your crusade against us, at least leave me and my troops out of it" he said, offering over a single olive branch.

"Heh... Fine, I'll leave your men and women out of it... but mark my words, if they attack me I am not going to hold back" Edgar warned, taking the branch and started to walk off towards a large cavern, before stopping "Oh, and if I am to do this, you must promise to leave a young brown haired girl and her half wind-caller altar boy alone, they'll be coming this way in no time at all, the safe haven is in this direction..." he said "They are under my protection, and attacking them is just as if you attack me..."

"Understood, I shall warn my men immediately" Libra said before tossing a rolled up piece of parchment "You'll know what to do with this..."

"Why would Edgar run off like that..." Maria grumbled, trudging down a dirt road, the bow and a quiver of arrows over her shoulder "I could have helped him, but he left me with that old man, and the half-bird"

"You, I heard that birds can be great traveling companions..." a soft voice said from above.

"Who's there! I've got a bow and some arrows, and I'm not afraid to use them!" She shouted, drawing an arrow and aimed to the sky, only to have a robed figure catch the arrow just as it left her hand "Walter?"

"Yep, That old man told me to take care of you" Walter chuckled taking the spear off his back "And I plan to be as useful as I can be" he said, before ramming the spear backwards, hitting a rabite between the eyes with the round end.

"The poor rabite..." she sniffled as she ran over and hugged it, rubbing the small bump that was created "How could you!" she shouted, hugging the rabite even closer.

"I... I... I didn't know it was there..." Walter stuttered, trying not to anger Maria any more

"He didn't mean to hurt you little bunny..." she cooed, rubbing the rabite's forehead, as she picked it up and started walking off "Come on Walter, we still have to catch up with Edgar" she ordered as they continued down the road.

Later that night, as our three brave adventurers set up camp in a small clearing in the secluded woods, just as Maria and Walter started to drift off to sleep, a lone figure scurried away from the camp.

"Oh, I am but a lowly rabite, yet this human girl takes me in, and cares for my wounds..." the yellow limb-less rabbit sighed, sitting on the edge of a cliff "It harms me to know that at some point I will have to turn and eat her whole, such is the way of my species... but if only there was someway to get past this horrid tradition..." he sighed, staring off into the moon's light "Mistress Luna, grant me the knowledge to conquer this problem..."

"Man... so that's what it feels like to sleep under the stars..." Walter yawned, stretching his arms out "You up Maria?" he asked, standing outside of her little shelter they made out of loose wood, leaves, and moss.

"Just a sec" she said, walking out, her hair a little mussed "I bet I'm going to get a load of tangles from this..." she giggled trying to straighten out her hair.

"Then why not cut it, I think you'd look kinda cute with shorter hair" Walter mumbled under his breath, before noticing something gnawing on his foot "oh great... The mouth-thing's hungry..."

"Then let's go get some breakfast" Maria stated, pulling out a arrow and her bow before shooting down a owl "I'm getting pretty good at this, if I do say so myself"

"Finally, I've reached the area where Libra said that Leo's troops would be heading..." Edgar said, looking through the imperial orders that he was handed by General Libra "If this place is still the home of the dwarf race... Gaia's navel... sounds catchy..." Shadow said folding the parchment up and waded across the small pong into the cavern's entrance, only to be stopped by the vision of someone being attacked by a swarm of bats.

"Gah, get off me ya blood suckers!" the figure shrieked, flailing her knife around, managing to cut a few of them.

"Hold on, I'll help you out!" Edgar said, slicing a few bats away with his blade, only to have them come back with a vengeance "What are these things made out of?" he asked, before grabbing a few by their bodies and took a close look at one "These are morphs..." he grumbled, squeezing the bats out of their shape into a formless glop of black liquid.

"Morphs?" the figure, a young beast woman of the Rodent family, asked swinging her blade as it went through the stomach of a bat, only to have the hole reform after she removed it "But they live in frozen areas, what are they doing here?"

"There are two ways..." Edgar sighed, ripping the cloth off of his arm, and extracted the coin from it only to replace it with a silver coin with the elemental spirit of light, Wisp, was engraved upon, as his fist started to glow an intense light, causing the morphs, or Shadow-Zeros as some would call them, to flee "Come on, let's get to a safer location before they regroup" he ordered, grabbing her arm, and fled down a natural hallway that was formed through the ages like so many other caverns.

"Wait, I should at least know the name of the guy who saved me" she demanded, wrenching her arm out of his grasp.

"The name... It's Edgar, but that's not important right now" he ordered as they reached a small passageway.


End file.
